Thursday, September 24, 1998

Golf courses can be better for deals than offices

By DOUG WILLIAMSON

Business Editor

Some businessmen say they have the deal in the bag - the golf bag that is.

For years, businessmen, and now businesswomen, have used the golf course to woo customers.

"That is one of the main reasons a lot of our members have memberships here," said Doug Fair, golf professional at Fairway Oaks Country Club. "From listening to conversations, probably about half of the play on the course has business discussed or conducted."

Abilene Country Club's pro Allen Botkin agrees.

"If there wasn't (so much business going on during the game), there would not be so many golf outings," Botkin said.

David Johnson knows golf can pay off from the business point of view. Working for Pride Cos., Johnson has taken many oilmen out to the golf course for a little relaxation and a little business.

"We are not doing it as much as we did in the past. With such low crude oil prices, customers are more interested in the price than in any relationship you might build up," Johnson said.

He explained the personal relationship can be nurtured on the golf course.

"If you have a common interest in golf, it is fairly easy to spend a day on the course. The more I know the guy, the more comfortable I am with him and he with me," he said.

Botkin and Fair both noted that four hours on the golf course and some time at the country club with lunch or dinner are plenty of time to work on business.

"If I go to someone's office, I might only get 15 or 20 minutes with him; on the golf course, I have him almost all day," Johnson said.

Botkin said, "I don't think the golf is that important. It is the time and relaxed atmosphere that counts. It becomes a door opener. You can see how someone reacts under pressure on the golf course and how they might react in business. If they are not honest on the golf course, I probably wouldn't do business with them in their company."

Golf and business have long been tied together. In fact, the importance of golf to business is even taught on the university level.

Dr. Dan Weilbaker of Northern Illinois University in De Kalb, Ill., teaches one week of golf and sales in an advanced professional selling class.

"We teach it on the golf course. On the final day of the weeklong session, students are put in foursomes with businessmen to play a round," he said.

Weilbaker said some companies say golf is a required activity for its sales force.

"It is just another tool in the salesman's tool bag," he said. "It is a game of honor and integrity. If you make a mistake, you take your lumps and go on."

About 75 percent of the school's business majors take their first jobs in the sales field. That is why all the majors and minors go through some salesmanship training. The advanced class is a select group of students, he said.

Should you let your customer win the golf game? Johnson and Weilbaker say no.

Through the handicapping system and other means, the game can be played on a level field for players of varied abilities.

"I've never known a guy to be upset if you didn't let the customer win the golf game. They expect you to play your best game and not to let them win," Johnson, who in the past has been a scratch golfer, said.

Doug Williamson can be reached at 676-6707 or williamsond@abinews.com.